Learn to Discern: Language Isn’t Neutral

Language isn’t benign.

I’ve said for years that the first step in character assassination is to change a person’s name. When powerful entities want to cast aspersions on persons with whom they disagree or oppose, they may attempt to recast the person’s identity. Because language isn’t neutral, this practice of using words to denigrate a person, isn’t neutral either. It’s designed to not only do harm, but to lower opposition to such harm.  

How Victims Were Described

Think about the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Within hours of his tragic passing, some administration officials called him a “would-be assassin,” or a “domestic terrorist.” These damning labels, which stood in stark contradiction to how Pretti’s family and friends described him, were designed to quell outrage about his passing. One would rightly have less sympathy for someone intent on doing harm to officers than someone mercilessly harmed by federal agents.

We saw similar maligning and character besmirching in terms of how federal officials described Renee Good. Good was an award-winning poet, and mother of tree, who was killed January 7, 2025 in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. A Trump administration official claimed that Good engaged in “an act of domestic terrorism” and “attempted to run a law enforcement officer over.”  The claims about Good and Pretti appear opposite from the facts.

This tactic of maligning a person’s character is an attempt to build a proverbial case against (or lower public sympathy for…) the person. And this strategy occurs in all facets of life.

Character Besmirching

When political candidates want to denigrate their opponents, many attack that individual’s character. To be clear, in the U.S. this looks less like distinguishing between the record of one candidate or another, and more like hateful language designed to destroy an individual, personally and professionally. Political language is increasingly caustic, and this could explain, at least in part, the increase in political violence in the U.S.

Media Coverage 

Further, many institutional media outlets similarly engage in harmful rhetoric and biased coverage. We’ve seen multiple instances of media outlets covering the Black community solely in the context of crime. Stories of Black uplift and progress are often sidelined, while negative content is amplified. Even Black victims of police violence are often scrutinized; their past often brought up and used against them. Rather than focusing on who the person was in life, some media outlets focus on a person’s mistakes or on matters that have little to do with their victimization.

If we want a nation that works for all, and where all belong, we must remember that language isn’t benign. It can build or destroy. It is bigger than something that merely entertains. Harmful language produces harm.

Advocates for a just society have a responsibility to not only carefully use language, but to hold others accountable for doing the same. Fortunately, you do not have to do this alone. Book a consultation with our team for support.

 

Jennifer R. Farmer is a crisis communications expert and founder Spotlight PR LLC. The firm helps clients build their platforms and protect their brands.